The Criminal (2001)

Synopsis: Steven Mackintosh stars in this British thriller as Jasper Rawlins, a young man who is thrust into the criminal underworld when a woman he picks up in a bar is murdered in his apartment. Fingered for the killing, Jasper goes on the run to prove his innocence and seemingly discovers the woman's... Steven Mackintosh stars in this British thriller as Jasper Rawlins, a young man who is thrust into the criminal underworld when a woman he picks up in a bar is murdered in his apartment. Fingered for the killing, Jasper goes on the run to prove his innocence and seemingly discovers the woman's death is connected to a much larger web of murder and corruption. Chased by a garrulous and foulmouthed detective named Hill, Jasper must elude capture and survive the seedy London underworld he has penetrated to prove his innocence. Taking a premise favored by Hitchcock, director Julian Simpson adds some new twists to the wrong man formula by toying with the sequence of the narrative and forcing the audience to continually shift their opinion of Jasper's guilt or innocence. Combined with the film's noirish feel and darkly comic vibe, THE CRIMINAL becomes one of the most inventive crime films to emerge from Britain in years. [More]